


What Matters

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Confessions, Get Together, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kidnapped, M/M, Mild torture, Secrets, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tony Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26656147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: Bucky lurched forward against his bonds as one of the HYDRA goons slapped Tony across the face. Tony spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. He was holding it together remarkably well, but Bucky knew it was only a matter of time before his body failed him and he passed out. The thought of Tony slumped in that chair, unresponsive, made Bucky pull violently at his chains again, but there was no give.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 515
Collections: Stuckony Summer Stocking 2020





	What Matters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realityfallsapart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityfallsapart/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [realityfallsapart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityfallsapart/pseuds/realityfallsapart) in the [stuckony_summer_stocking_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stuckony_summer_stocking_2020) collection. 



> I combined the soulmate prompt with the kidnapping prompt. Hope you enjoy!

Bucky lurched forward against his bonds as one of the HYDRA goons slapped Tony across the face. Tony spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. He was holding it together remarkably well, but Bucky knew it was only a matter of time before his body failed him and he passed out. The thought of Tony slumped in that chair, unresponsive, made Bucky pull violently at his chains again, but there was no give.

"Just give us the words," Bucky heard the man standing next to Steve whisper in his ear. "Then we won't have to break any of his fingers. Engineer needs his fingers. I don't know if he'd recover from that…"

Steve's teeth were gritted together, eyes fixed firmly on Tony like the man wasn't even speaking, but Bucky could see the sweat on his brow, the tremor in the tense muscles in his neck. The last thing Bucky wanted was for HYDRA to know his trigger words - the words he still hadn't quite overcome, but was finally making progress on - but watching Tony suffer made him want to just give them up. If it was a choice between his pain and Tony's, he'd choose to take it any day of the week, but as the Winter Soldier, he wasn't the one in danger, other people were, innocent people, and he couldn't trade even Tony's suffering for that. 

"Just  _ stop,"  _ he ground out before he could hold his tongue.

The HYDRA scientist whispering in Steve's ear turned to face him at that. "You," he murmured, "are a thing of beauty. And soon you'll be all mine."

"Hey, Ice Cube Twins!" Tony called, and both Steve and Bucky snapped their attention to him. "Might want to close your eyes," he said pointedly.

Bucky had just enough processing power left to follow the order, squeezing his eyes closed. A heartbeat later, the room exploded with light. There were screams all around him as the bad guy's eyes were seared by the strength of it, so bright, it burned an after image on Bucky's own vision, even with his lids firmly closed. 

A soft touch on his wrist made him startle, but then Tony's voice whispered in his ear. "I've got you," and then the chains released.

The light disappeared, and Bucky wrenched free of his bonds just in time to catch Tony as he stumbled to the side, arms wrapped around his middle. Steve was free, shield in hand, and the men in the room were lying in a motionless pile on the ground. 

"I think we're -  _ guh."  _ Tony lilted violently to the left, and Bucky scooped him up into a bridal carry. He was actively bleeding, face pale, dark bruises harsh against his wan skin. "We're…." He blinked too heavily.

"That was the last of his adrenaline," Bucky told Steve. "We need to  _ move."  _

Steve swept out of the room, Bucky right behind him, and powered down the hallway. Even with Bucky's arms full of a barely-conscious Tony, they plowed through HYDRA's laughable defenses in no time. They burst out into the woods, and powered through the snow. The cold couldn't hurt Bucky, but he shivered at the ghosts it sent crawling up his spine. He held Tony closer. 

Tony's clothes were shredded and torn and the harsh winter wind had to have been cutting through them cruelly. 

"Where are we going?" Bucky called to Steve.

Steve stopped and let Bucky catch up to him. He formed a windbreak between Tony and the winter bite. "My comm's broken. Shit. At least the wind will cover our footprints, but this base is going to be crawling with HYDRA goons soon, and we can't take them on without putting Tony at risk. He needs patching up."

Bucky scanned the edge of the woods. "A path. Right there. It's gotta go somewhere."

Steve scowled. "What if it's the head of a thirty-mile trail?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Steve did not, so they made for the trail. The full cover of the trees kept the wind at bay and the stomped-down snow made it easier to walk. To Bucky's immense relief, it was only about five minutes before the trail ended at a road. They followed the road for another ten minutes and found a summer cottage, closed up for the winter, but clearly well loved and well used in warmer days. Steve broke the lock, and Bucky lay Tony out on the dining room table.

"First aid kit," Steve called from the bathroom. "Plus what I've got in my pack."

Tony groaned and his eyes fluttered open. "Please tell me I slept through the shitty part and we're already back at the tower."

"Sorry bud." Buck patted his knee. "We're safe, for now, but you still need patching up."

"Bleh." Tony pushed himself up until he was sitting on the edge of the table. "It's mostly superficial. Designed to hurt but not to damage. They knew it would take a while to break us. No use killing me five minutes in."

"Don't say that," Steve mumbled. He handed Bucky the first aid kit he'd found and the pack from his tool belt along with a wet towel.

Bucky opened it up and spread out the supplies. He mopped blood away from Tony's injuries, looking for the worst of them. There was a deep gash on his stomach that made Tony wince when he swiped the towel over it. "This needs stitches."

Tony curled his lip. "Damn you and your supersoldier healing factor. You guys never need stitches."

Steve smiled. "I'd give you my healing factor if I could, Tony."

Tony pouted. "Don't say shit like that. It makes me all sappy and uncomfortable."

Bucky managed a first stitch, but the angle was off and he couldn't get the needle in for the next. He shoved Tony's ruined clothes aside and caught sight of a coloured brand on Tony's hip, stark against his pale skin. "What's this?" Bucky's hand brushed lower, pushing the shredded shirt out of the way, and Tony flinched violently, batting his hand away.

"Nothing. Stop it. I can do that."

"I'm not letting you sew yourself back together, Tony," Bucky growled, perhaps a bit too harshly. He'd seen the marks on Tony's hip, knew what they meant, and it was too late to un-see them. 

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Steve said flatly. "Let Bucky stitch you up." Bucky didn't have to turn around to know that Steve had seen what he had seen. 

All three of them fell silent for a painful few moments. Bucky was sure Steve was thinking the same thing he was: Tony had both their soulmarks, must have had since the first moment they met, and he hadn't said anything. Why?

"It's not a big deal," Tony finally said. "Just forget about it."

Bucky tied off the last knot and pressed a wad of gauze over the area. "I thought Ty was your soulmate." He couldn't meet Tony's eyes. "Your wikipedia page says you two severed your bond."

Tony sighed. "We were never mates. But his dad and my dad were… I don't know. What do you call it when you both rule your respective areas of business? They were rivals and enemies while at the same time being one of the few people who understood what it was like to be them, to wear that crown. When it became clear at pretty young ages that Ty and I were both interested in guys, they started pushing us together. My dad started the rumour that we were soulmates because it painted a picture he liked. This idea that we were both destined to step into our father's shoes, but also that we could mend the rift, unite the tech business world's two giants. It was a long-ass time before I realized that being - or not being - with Ty was a choice I could actually make for myself."

Steve dragged a chair across the floor and slumped down in it. "He was never your mate?"

"No. I didn't have a mark appear until twenty-twelve." Tony's eyes were focused firmly on the door frame at the edge of the room. "Now I have two. That's it."

Pain crawled it's way up inside Bucky's chest, bulging in his throat and making it hard to speak. "You never said anything."

Tony took the gauze and pointedly pressed it to his own stomach, shifting away from Bucky and curling in on himself. "Neither did either of you," he snapped.

Silence settled again, and Bucky turned to stare at Steve who looked as utterly flummoxed as Bucky felt. "Tony… I thought you read our files."

"I have…? Before we met though. You wouldn't have had marks yet. You think I was just going to keep spying on your private information when we were all living together in the tower?"

"No…" Bucky wanted to reach for him but stopped himself. "The medical files. Where it explains that the serum prevents soulmarks from appearing."

Tony went deathly still. "What?"

"We can't mark," Steve said softly, leaning in closer. "We had each other's marks before the serum and it erased them for both of us and we haven't marked since."

"Tony. We didn't know you were ours."

Tony swallowed heavily. "You didn't know we were soulmates. All this time. Oh my god. I thought you knew and didn't want me." He dropped his face into his free hand, smearing dirt and blood across his cheek.

"Oh, we want you," Steve gasped. "I mean, I can't speak for Bucky, but -"

"We want you," Bucky echoed. "We've always wanted you."

"We didn't think we had the right to ask. Not when you were bonded to someone else - even if it was broken."

"Oh." Tony blinked wetly. "Fuck."

Bucky reached for him again. "Can I -" He wriggled his fingers towards Tony's hip.

"Oh, sure." Tony shoved the torn fabric of his shirt aside and let Bucky peel the hem of his pants down. There on his skin, soft and faded but whole and perfect, were two stars, one red, one white. 

Bucky couldn't stop his thumb from tracing over the white one, making Tony shiver. "I haven't seen this in seventy years," he said softly. "I woke up and it was gone."

"Buck -" Steve's hand landed on the back of his neck. 

"Tony, you're our missing puzzle piece."

"Okay." Tony hooked Steve's wrist with his free hand and leaned in until his forehead pressed against Steve's ribs. "Okay." His voice broke.

"Come on, sweetheart." Steve shifted around to lift Tony into his arms. "Time for you to rest."

"I need to fix our comms," Tony mumbled into Steve's shirt. "Call for rescue."

"After a nap." Steve lay Tony out on the musty bed and he and Bucky pressed in on either side. 

Bucky let his hand slide down to Tony's wrist and stay there, the steady thud of his pulse keeping his own heart beating. "So much wasted time," he muttered, once Tony's eyes had fallen shut and his breathing had evened out.

"And yet so much time left to enjoy each other," Steve said with a smirk. "We found him now, isn't that what matters?"

Bucky nodded. Sure, he was stuck in a cabin in the middle of winter, five miles from a HYDRA base that was no doubt coming after them with no communications system, but he was stuck there with his two soulmates. "Yeah." He brushed Tony's hair away from his face. "That's what matters."


End file.
